Background: WNT16 is critical for bone homeostasis, but the effect of WNT16 in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is still unknown. Here, we investigated whether WNT16 influences bone formation and pathophysiological changes of AS in an in vitro model.Methods: Bone tissue from facet joints was obtained from five disease control and six AS patients. Primary osteoprogenitor cells of the facet joints were isolated using an outgrowth method. Isolated osteoprogenitor cells from both control and AS tissues were analysed by microarray, RT-qPCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry. Bone-forming activity of osteoprogenitor cells was assessed by various in vitro assays. β-galactosidase staining and senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) using RT-qPCR were used to assess cell senescence.Results: In microarray analysis, WNT16 expression was significantly elevated in AS osteoprogenitor cells compared to the control. We also validated that WNT16 expression was elevated in AS-osteoprogenitor cells and human AS-bone tissues. WNT16 treatment inhibited bone formation in AS-osteoprogenitor cells but not in the control. Intriguingly, β-galactosidase for cell senescence was strongly stained in AS-osteoprogenitor cells treated with WNT16. Furthermore, in an H2O2 stress-induced premature senescence condition, WNT16 treatment increased cell senescence in AS-osteoprogenitor cells and WNT16 treatment under the H2O2 stress condition showed an increase in p21 protein and SASP mRNA expression. The WNT16-induced SASP expression in AS-osteoprogenitor cells was reduced in WNT16 knockdown cultures. Conclusion: WNT16 is highly expressed in AS and WNT16 treatment facilitated cell senescence in AS-osteoprogenitor cells during osteoblast differentiation accompanied by suppression of bone formation. The identified role of WNT16 in AS could reflect the bone loss in AS patients.
